A review by Jenni:
What I love about this
episode:
It's the only episode of TBAA to star Dwayne Wayne! Fond 80s
memories of "A Different World" abound! I'm just glad
Kathleen
did not appear in this episode cause seeing "Whitley" try to turn
"Dwayne Wayne" evil woulda been completely demoralizing. To
everyone reading this thinking "What the heck is she talking about
now?!" I'm referring to Jasmine Guy's (aka the demon Kathleen) and
Kadeem Hardison's (aka Mark in this episode) characters on the
1987 TV
show "A Different World." It was fun to see him again!
So
Mark's actually kinda a jerk in this. Which is why I love
Tess' reaction to him when he thinks she's a secretary instead of
the
head prosecutor. She laughs! It's awesome! I
wish I
was more like Tess in that. She makes Mark realize he was
wrong. I just tend to want to go to pieces and throw things
when
faced with sexist remarks.

How cute is it that Andrew and Monica show up for moral
support?
Adorable. I wish Tess woulda seen it that way. But
it's
nice to see Andrew and Monica being conspiratorial. Like for
just
a moment they're on even par and having fun with Tess. Later
I
know Andrew will get shoved aside ("Clipped Wings" is soon after)
but
for a moment all is well!

I love it when Tess paraphrases Dr. King. I think of that
street
sweeper quote every so often when I get to thinking that whatever
I'm
doing isn't grand enough. Good to be reminded.

Tess has a wonderful revelation scene here, I think. I love
how
she's not too soft with Mark but also gentle enough to comfort
him. And when she assures him he's "always been a child of
God,"
it's easy to take that right to heart.

What I didn't love about
this
episode:
Tess so does not get AOD humor. Poor Adam had a time of it
and
now she gets snappy with Andrew. He's totally adorable when
he
(clearly jokingly) tells Tess she's the only one having fun.
She
snaps back "Is there anything wrong with that?" Chill
out!
The guy just wanted to be able to help out. It's what he
does!!! Seriously... Thankfully, Andrew isn't as vexed
by
this as myself.

Mark is a jerk to Andrew. Enough said.

Lingering questions:
Why
does Mark take the sign off the Sinclair mansion? Is that a
thing
to do when you're gonna buy the house? I certainly didn't
take
the For Sale sign outta the yard of the house I bought,
though...
I'm not sure who did. It just disappeared. The realtor
took
it, I assume. Anyone know what the deal is? Okay,
I'm
sure this is just how the shot was framed but every time
Andrew goes out to offer food at Mark's party... I totally think
it
looks like he's offering food to no one. Does anyone else
think
this? Cause whomever Andrew's offering food to is completely
out
of the shot. So it actually looks like he's offering treats
to my
Kleenex box which borders my TV. And then I giggle because
I'm
easily amused. And Andrew looks good in that suit.

I gotta kinda wonder about poor Vanessa at the end. First,
she
witnesses the prosecutor turn a cigarette packet into a
dove.
Weird. Then the maid all of a sudden knows how many babies
she'll
have. And the butler has apparently already been considering
names for em. I'd be a lil freaked if I was her. I
sure
hope Mark and Esther filled her in very quickly.

Parts that made me feel
swoony:
Andrew as a chauffeur/butler has a very odd effect on me.
Maybe
because I've equated that role with romantic frustration thanks to
Remains of the Day.
Wonderful...
Or maybe just cause I think it would be awesome if
Andrew were my chauffeur. Cept he wouldn't be hired
help.
He'd just be driving cause I can't. And we'd go on a road
trip. And I'd pay tons of attention to him. And it
would be
maladaptive and I'd be warped for life but oh well.

The look on Andrew's face when he asks Tess if he's there because
he
"looks so good in this uniform"... so cute! And it's nice to
see
him being a lil bit cocky. He *does* look good and I'm glad
he
knows that. Yay. It's just that sometimes he seems a
lil
bit surprised that women are attracted to him which is a lil
sad.
So that's a nice lil, encouraging exchange.

On a serious note, Andrew's very sweet when he assures Mark's mom
that
she has enough time left on earth to make a difference. Just
the
tone of his voice is so assuring and so loving. Good, old
Andrew...

I love that Andrew puts his arm around Monica and looks so happy
for
the Hamiltons at the end. It makes me wonder if maybe
Andrew's
just more affectionate and touchy-feely than Monica. And
maybe
that's why she seems kinda stand-offish by comparison. I
dunno. But I'd sure like a chance to be Monica. ;-)

Random thoughts:This episode made me excited for winter. I know once
it
comes I'll be sighing over dirty snow and muddy shoes and heating
bills
but... that light snow they had going for a bit was so
pretty.
And the warm and toasty hats and scarves...

Tess enjoys Shirley Temples like myself! They're
yummy. I wish I had the guts to order them at bars.
But
people seem to think that's childish.

Apparently angels can have allergies. First it just seems
like
Monica doesn't do well with cigarette smoke. And then Andrew
says
he doesn't like it either. But later Monica says she's
actually
allergic. So I wonder what else they can be allergic to?

It's kinda weird watching the episode now when the danger of
second-hand smoke is a taken for granted fact. The idea that
anyone would argue against it seems absurd almost.

Kinda weirds me out that the "villain" is named J.D. Cause I
either think of John Dorian from "Scrubs" or, naturally, John Dye
when
I hear those initials. Not a greedy, immoral guy selling
tobacco.

A Word from Travis:This is my fourth favorite episode of Season 3. All the actors
were excellent and I understand Marc’s the overall
mindset/attitude even if I don’t agree with his actions. This
episode reminds me of “Black Like Monica” where the theme of skin
color was displayed. Marc felt people might not of thought much of
him as he was black and he wanted to prove that a black individual
could ‘make it” also.